Festival Fling
by fiblets5
Summary: Damon and Stefan Salvatore are the youngest members of a musical family. Elena has recently joined Stefan's band. When Damon and Elena meet, sparks fly immediately. But are either of them ready for something real? And will tensions arise when Damon tries to steal Elena for his own band?


_Author's Note: All the below lyrics are from the Avett Brothers, because I was listening to them when I thought of this story. I honestly am not sure where this is going, but this is what I have written so far. Also none of the characters belong to me. Please don't sue me. _

_Lord knows they haven't done _

_Much good for anyone _

_Kept me afraid and cold _

_With so much to have and hold _

_Under the curving sky _

_I'm finally learning why _

_It matters for me and you _

_To say it and mean it too _

Elena smiled at Stefan as their eyes met. She closed her eyes and crooned out the words, as the song winded down. Looking out at the crowd Elena felt a swell of emotion as she saw people swaying, some held their dates and danced lightly back and forth, some had their phones out and were waving them back and forth through the air, like dozens of giant, unblinking fireflies in the warm festival air. Their voices melted together smoothly and comfortably.

_For life and its loveliness _

_And all of its ugliness _

She took a breath as her part ended and Stefan sang out the last words of the song alone:

_Good as it's been to me _

_I have no enemies _

_I have no enemies _

_I have no enemies _

_I have no enemies_

His voice was honeyed and rich and his fingers strummed his guitar with practiced ease. She moved back and forth with the music, eyes moving between him and the crowd. Behind them both, Matt and Bonnie added their magic, Matt on another guitar and Bonnie on the drums. As the music died down and applause started up from the crowd. Elena wondered if the smile on her face would ever go away.

This was her first summer festival with the band, and she wondered if there was any way she could just spend the rest of her life doing this. The whole day had been building to this - arriving together in the rented van at sunrise, unloading equipment and speakers as the sky turned all shades of rose and gold, wandering around and talking to other vendors after setup was done, eating funnel cake for lunch. Now their set was winding down and the high she'd felt from being on that stage felt like it could last forever. Before her stretched a sea of people and tents, as behind them the sky was just beginning to turn a dusky blue and the air still hung heavy with heat, yet to cool down.

She looked to Stefan as the applause died down, who gave a nod to her and the others. She stepped behind the keyboard and tried to ignore the flutter of nerves in her stomach. This was the only song in the set where she both played piano and sang, and while they'd practiced it a hundred times, this was her first time performing it in front of a crowd this size. Stefan had met her eyes again as they all took their places, and she melted a little for the confidence he seemed to be trying to convey.

The first time she met Stefan, she'd noticed his eyes. They seemed to be a hundred years older than they should've been, and the more she got to know him the more expressive they seemed to become.

Now those intense green eyes turned playful and with a quick wink and a smile, he was turning back to the crowd.

"We're going to pick it up a little bit in here, y'all ready for that?"

The audience cheered and Elena noticed the female population swooning and cheering for the handsome lead singer. She knew he'd thrown a wink their way by the way some of them screamed in excitement. She couldn't hold back a grin as Bonnie started in with a quick drum beat and she and Matt joined in. Her piano part was fast but simple and repetitive, and despite the moment of nerves this song reminded her of how and why she'd taken to performing like a fish to water. The quick beat and fun lyrics swept her up past thought until everything was the music.

_The footprints over the snow_

_The fabric of all the lonely_

_C-Covering only_

_The fables and hands_

_The rest is out in the cold_

_Holding the last of the season_

_F-f-f-freezin' yeah_

She and Bonnie beat out the quick beat in perfect sync, the only two making any sound between verse and chorus. Her fingers danced over the keys and she leaned towards her mic, shimmying her hips.

_My, my, my heart like a kick drum_

_My, my heart like a kick drum_

_My, my heart like a kick drum_

_My, my love like a voice_

Though for this song she was stuck in place behind the keyboard, she and Stefan still turned towards each other and danced, hips and feet moving playfully. When she had nothing but a mic in her hand they would dance towards each other, flirting with eyes and bodies and smiles, and the crowd would eat it up.

_We're walkin' into the fields_

_We're walkin' into the forest_

_The moon is before us_

_Up above_

_We're holdin' hands in the rain_

_S-sayin' words like I love you_

_D-d-do you love me? Yeah_

Stefan gave her moony eyes, mouthing the words with extra enthusiasm, and she threw her head back in silent laughter. He wiggled his eyebrows at her and swiveled enthusiastically back to the crowd, belting out the next chorus.

The crowd was feeding on their energy and was growing as more and more of the people walking the festival stopped in front of the stage. People swayed and clapped and Elena watched a few enthusiastic little girls dance wildly, pigtails and curls flying. This was cloud 9 and Elena didn't plan on ever coming down. Her eyes winded their way through the crowd, between cowboy boots and hats and over cones of cotton candy and balloons until she was stopped unexpectedly by a pair of ocean-blue eyes. They belonged to possibly the hottest guy she'd ever seen and were trained almost intensely on Stefan. His hair was dark like hers and carelessly tousled. He stood confidently, with muscular arms crossed. She watched him lean towards the guy he was standing with - who was also weirdly attractive, where did these guys come from? - as he seemed to say something to him. He laughed; God what a mouth he had. He and the other guy wolf-whistled playfully and Elena's head whipped to Stefan to see his reaction. He laughed and shook his head at them. Maybe they knew each other?

She saw the blue-eyed guy clap his companion on the back and make his way towards the stage, heading towards her side. She shook her head slightly to focus herself at the same time that Stefan turned towards her for the final verse and he gave her a quizzical look. It disappeared as quickly as it came as they both sang the final words.

_I won't look back anymore_

_I left the people that do_

_It's not the chase that I love_

_It's me following you_

He winked at her playfully again at these words. He loved playing up the "lead singers are into each other" shtick in front of the crowd.

_My, my heart like a kick drum_

_My, my heart like a kick drum_

_My, my heart like a kick drum_

_My, my love like a voice_

_My, my heart like a kick drum_

Bonnie finished them off with a flourish of the drums and the crowd clapped enthusiastically. Stefan took a quick sip from the water bottle next to him and stepped back up to his mic.

"We've just got one more song for you tonight, I know, I know," he laughed low at the chorus of groans, "but we've got a special treat for you so I think maybe you'll forgive us." More groans and he laughed again, "just maybe."

Stefan sure knew how to work the crowd, they loved him. Elena didn't know who the surprise guest was for this song, Stefan had been cagey about it. All she knew was that she was sitting this one out so she assumed it was someone else on vocals. She settled back onto her stool and waited for the announcement with the rest of the crowd.

"You know him, you love him, you've missed him almost as much as I have…. Ladies and gentleman, give it up for my brother, Damon Salvatore."

Elena turned as she heard heavy footsteps on the stage behind her and saw the devastating blue-eyed man, now with a guitar slung over his shoulder, walk towards the center of the stage, throwing a wink at Bonnie and then a wide wave at the crowd, who had erupted in cheers. Bonnie looked as delighted as Elena had ever seen her - the girl tended to be on the stoic side - and the crowd clearly knew who Damon was and was loving the surprise. Their applause died down quickly as Damon and Stefan played the first notes of their song.

Elena was familiar now with Stefan's voice, and never grew tired of it. The way it softly caressed the words of each song, smooth and warm and intimate. She let it wash over her as he crooned into the microphone, watching as the rest of the crowd fell under his spell. She was startled, then, although she should have expected it, when Damon joined in. His voice was the perfect companion and simultaneous opposite of Stefan's. It was deeper, rougher, powerful. If Stefan's voice was a metaphorical comforting hug, a hand-holding walk on the beach, Damon's was _sex. _Pure sex. Elena was startled by the immediate response in her...lady parts and crossed her legs to silence it. Blushing, she looked around as if sure someone must've noticed her reaction, but of course no one had. The entire crowd was focused on the two brothers as they played and sang.

Stefan sang a short verse solo, then Damon.

_A tear fell from my father's eyes_

_I wondered what my dad would say_

_He said I love you and I'm proud of you both_

_in so many different ways_

They came together again for the last verse and the festival seemed extra hushed under the music, all faraway sounds drifting away.

_Make sure my sister knows I loved her_

_Make sure my mother knows the same_

_Always remember, there was nothing worth sharing_

_Like the love that let us share our name_

_Always remember, there was nothing worth sharing_

_Like the love that let us share our name_

As the last chord died in the evening air, the crowd seemed to hold a collective breath before collapsing into whoops and hollers and applause. Damon and Stefan hugged and clapped each other on the back, and Elena was struck again by their differences. Nothing about them indicated that they were related, they didn't look similar unless you counted amazing bone structure and arresting eyes. Their short embrace was a study in opposites - leather against cotton tee, tousled black hair against sculpted brown, blue eyes and green, even showy black and turquoise guitar against a worn brown one. They were almost the same height, but Damon _seemed _taller, larger than life.

All the sounds of the night seemed to suddenly converge in Elena's ears at once. Cars starting in the distance, the drumbeat of hundreds of feet making their way across the grass towards the parking lot, vendors gathering their things. Carnival sounds and lights echoed from the other side of the lot. Stefan thanked the crowd and there was one last smattering of applause. The energy that had been coursing through her all day died down to a buzz and she suddenly realized how tired all of her extremities were.

Damon stepped over towards Bonnie, who jumped from behind her drums and threw herself into his arms. Stefan made his way over to Elena, big grin on his face. "First big show, you killed it. How do you feel?" She couldn't fight the grin on her own face. "That was amazing. Too good for words." He opened his arms to her and she fell into them. "Let's do that again and again."

He laughed, actually threw his head back and laughed. "You got it, beautiful."

She stepped back and did a happy little shimmy, making him laugh again. "I can't believe how tired I feel now though. Good tired. Kinda buzzed."

She hadn't noticed Damon approaching and now he was next to her, plopping an arm around her shoulders like they were old friends. "Looks like you've got a head start on us then, sweetheart. Grille? I believe you owe me a bourbon" he said, the last part directed at Stefan. Stefan laughed. "Sure I do. Yeah, let's load everything up quick and celebrate at the Grille. Oh, you two haven't met. Damon, Elena, Elena, Damon." Damon pulled his arm from her shoulder to face her head-on. Elena started to raise her hand and decided too late that giving him a handshake would be weird, but without missing a beat he took her hand, brushing his lips across her knuckles while looking her in the eye. She tried to remind herself to breathe normally. "Nice to meet you, Elena." Was it her imagination or did the way he drew out her name sound suggestive? Stefan was talking again. "Elena's the new member of the band, backup vocalist and keyboardist extraordinaire." Elena laughed and shook her head, about to refute him as they all knew her keyboard skills were baseline at best, but Damon was already responding. "So I saw. My much hotter replacement." He wiggled his eyebrows at her in an exact imitation of Stefan and it was the first time the resemblance was clear. His arm was around her shoulder again and he leaned in, whispering conspiratorially, "You know, I could use a hot backup vocalist and keyboardist with me on tour…"

"Stop trying to steal my band members!"

Elena tried to tell herself that he wasn't actually offering her a place in his band, and was only trying to get a rise out of Stefan, but her heart wasn't listening and had started beating like crazy. Or maybe that was because of how close he was. Or his big strong arm laying protectively over her shoulder. Or because of how good he smelled. Luckily Bonnie chose that moment to interrupt.

"Are we going to pack up and get to the bar or are you two just going to shoot the breeze all night?"

Everyone good naturedly started packing up, even Damon started winding cords even though he had nothing to pack up but his guitar. Damon's friend from before, the tall dark one, was waiting by the side of the stage and helped carry things to the van. Elena had just turned from handing him something to see Bonnie with a dumbstruck look on her face that quickly morphed into a grin. "Enzo!"

She broke into a full-on run and launched herself into his arms, where there lips were suddenly fused together. Elena had never seen Bonnie show much emotion or even really mention her love life, and now she'd seen her twice with a huge grin on her face and now macking on this stranger with no qualms about who saw.

"Yeah, they get like that." Stefan was stage whispering in her ear and she giggled. Bonnie heard them and breathlessly tore her face away. "I'm riding with Enzo and Damon," she grinned and turned back, "Right baby?" The guy said nothing but grabbed her face and pulled it back to his again. Damon walked up, muttering something under his breath, and Enzo swatted vaguely at him as he passed, opening the driver's side door of a classic blue Camaro. "I don't have all day" he called out in a sing-song voice, and Enzo and Bonnie separated long enough to climb into the backseat of the car, then melted back into each other. Damon rolled his eyes and smoothly fell into the driver's seat. "See y'all at the Grille."

Stefan, Matt, and Elena made sure everything was secure in the back of the van before climbing in. "We don't have to return the van tonight, do we?" Matt asked Stefan. "No, just by tomorrow at 10 am. I figure we can worry about unloading it in the morning. Been a long day."

Elena was pensive. It was silly, but she honestly was worried about being at the bar with Damon. He was so flirty and comfortable around her, and it seemed like that was just the way he was, but it was way too easy to read into and she didn't need any of that confusion in her life at the moment. She leaned in to Stefan from the passenger seat. "Would you hate me if I skipped the bar tonight? I kinda just want to crash." He sent her an understanding look, as she knew he would. "Nah girl, you had a crazy day. You killed it today." He squeezed her hand. "I can drop you off at the apartment on the way." She nodded gratefully and sat back in her seat, watching stars appear in the sky above the festival grounds as Stefan maneuvered the van onto the dirt road leading back to civilization.

Hot guy crisis averted, for now.


End file.
